Multimotor single propeller airplane



March 7, 1944. w, w s v 2,343,606

MULTIMOTOR SINGLE PROPELLER AIRPLANE FiledSept. 17, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTOR We Ztcr Wis/r.

ATTORNEY March 7, 1 944. w. WlSK 2,343,606

MULTIMOTOR SINGLE PROPELLER AIRPLANE Filed Sept. 17, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet2 M /a B3 INVENTOR 7? Na lzerMs/r.

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 7, 1944 PATENT OFFICE 2.34am f MULTIMOTOB SINGLEPROPELLER AIRPLANE Walter Wlsk, West Cromwell, Application September 17,1941, Serial No. 411,183 (Cl. 244-55) a Claim. This invention relates toairplanes, and more particularly to an airplane employing -a pluralityof air-cooled motors arranged for driving a single propeller.

One object of this invention is to provide an airplane of the abovenaitllre in which the hydraulic pressure developed in the crank cases ofall of the motors is transmitted by suitable pipes to the commonpropeller shaft and the resultant pressure is transmitted thence to theautomatic propeller pitch-controlling mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide an airplane of the abovenature in which each of the motors is located in a separate compartmentthrough which air from the cowl is selectively passed for cooling themotors, but in which the flow of air to any particular motor may bestopped by the closing of shutters in case it is desired to make repairsto any motor during flight. A further object of this invention is toprovide an airplane of the above nature which will be relatively simplein construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to manipulate,compact, ornamental in appearance, subject to the minimum of vibration,and very eflicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there have been illustrated on theaccompanying drawings several forms in which the invention may beconveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 represents a front view of the central part of an airplaneshowing the cowl, the fuselage and the inner ends of the propellerblades.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the forward part ofthe fuselage and cowl.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 34 ofFigure 2, looking rearwardly.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line |-l ofFigure 2, looking rearwardly.

Figure 5 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a modified formof the invention, showing the mechanism for transmitting the hydraulicpressure developed in the crank cases of each of the motors to thepropeller pitch controlling mechanism.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5,looking forwardly.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 1-1 of Figurefirlooking outwardly at the inner end of one of the propeller blades.

Figure 8 is asectional view of a modified form of mechanism fortransmitting the' hydraulic pressure from the interior of the hollowtransmission shaft to the propeller pitch controlling mechanism.

Figure 9is'a sectional viewtaken along the line. 5-9 of Figure 8,looking forwardly.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral IIindicates an airplane fuselage which, as shown, is cylindrical in shapeexcept for a conical forward end ll thereof, which ls'closed by astreamlined rotating cowl I2, the latter'having a plurality of centralair intake openings Ho and being rigidly secured to'the forward end ofa-common hollow transmission shaft it by means of a nut lib which isseated within a recess in the forwardpart of said cowl. Behind eachintake opening IZa, provision is made of a fan blade it which increasesthe amount of air drawn through the cowl i2.

The interior of the fuselage is divided intoea plurality of longitudinalcompartments (four in this instance) designated by-the numerals i4, l5,l6, and I1. These compartments are separated from each other by fourU-shaped partitions I 8,

ll, 20, and, the inner adjacent sections of which are spaced fromthecommon central transmission shaft l3--the latter being mounted inball bearings 22 and 23 which are supported from the exterior of thefuselage iii by two sets of rearwardly diverging arms 22a and 22b,respectively.

The airplane is driven by four air-cooled motors 24, 25, 25, and 21,which are supported within their impective compartments by means of fourangle bracket members 24a, 25a, 26a, and 21a, respectively (see Figure4) Power is transmitted from all of the motors to the commontransmission shaft 13 by means of fourbelts 28, 29, 30, and 3|, whichrun over four pulleys 32, 33, 34, and

"35, carried by said motors and four pulleys 36, 31,

38. and 39 mounted on the main shaft. Provision is made of slip-frictionmechanisms .for so connecting the pulleys I6, 31, 38, and 39 with theshaft that in case one of the motors is idling or stopped, slippage willoccur between the pulley and belt connected with said motor.

The front of each compm-tment is enclosed by four sets of inclined flatshutters 40, ll, 42, and 43, which shutters are controlled in theiropening and closing movements by flexible cables 44,

45, 48. and 41. The cabla are provided with handles 48, 49, 50, and SIon the inner ends thereof for convenience in manipulation.

The inclined rear walls of the compartments II, II, It, and II, areclosed by inwardly opening doors located in the outer portions 00 of thesupport members lie-thus permitting access to said compartments from therear portion of the fuselage. Provision is also made of rear outletopenings 02 in the outer walls of the fuselage I0 to permit the coolingair to flow outwardly from said compartments I0, II, I0, and I1. Airoutlet openings 024 are also provided in the fuselage in front of theinclined wall in which the shutters are located.

The hydraulic pressure developed in the crank cases of each of themotors 20, 20, 20, and 21 is transmitted to a common manifold 02 havinga reduced rear section Ila (see Figures 2 and The forward part of themanifold 02 is connected to the crank cases of the motors 20-, 7.0, 20,and 21, respectively, by a plurality ofoil inlet pipes 53, 50, 58, andI0, individually controlled by hand-operated valves 00a. The oil ispumped back from the manifold 02 to the respective motor crank casesthrough a plurality of oil return pipes 51, 50, 00, and 00, which'areconnected to the reduced rear section of said manifold.

The transmission pipe I0 is provided with a plurality of spaced slots 0i(see Figure 5) which are located within the enlarged section of themanifold 02, whereby the resultant pressure from all of the motors willbe transmitted through the common shaft ll to the mechanism at the frontof the airplane for automatically controlling the main control valve,not shown, may be provided in the manifold 02 between the inlet andoutlet ports thereof, whereby the operator may manually adjust thehydraulic pressure which will be transmitted to the pitch controlmechanism.

a plurality of openings II. in the transmission shaft I0.

In order to guide the rotary plate 05 in its longitudinal movementsalong the exterior of the shaft I 0, provision is made of two pairs ofconcave spools 02, I0, and 00, II, respectively, which engage said shaftand are mounted to rotate within a pair of bracket members 06 and 01secured to the front and rear of said plate, respectively. The concavespools are adjustable with respect to the shaft I3 by means of two pairsof headed screws I00 and "I (as clearly shown in Figure '5) In themodified form of the invention shown in Figures 8 and 9, the pressurefrom the interior of the hollow shaft I0 is transmitted to thecontrolled-pitch propeller blades I0, II, I2, and I3 by means of aninterior piston I 02 having four radial arms I03 connected therewith andextending through a plurality of elongated slots I00 formed in the shaftII. The outer ends of the arms I03 are connected to the rear ends of aplurality of longitudinal rods I05 which are locatedoutside the shaft I0and are free to slide within the inner raceway I00 of the ball bearingssurrounding said shaft I3, one such ball .bearing being shown in Figures8 and 9-the balls being indicated by the numeral I01, and

the outer raceway by the numeral I08. The forward ends of the rods I05are connected to a b died, it is to be understood that these As isclearly shown in Figures 5. s, and 'z, the;

propeller is provided with four radial hubs 00, 51, G0, and 00 withinwhich are mounted four twistable adjustable blades II, 'II, I2, and I3.

The hubs 00, 01, 00, and 00 are connected to a longitudinal sleeve 14mounted upon and rigidly connected with the transmission shaft I3 bymeans of a plurality of inclined forward struts 15 and a plurality ofinclined rearward struts 10.

By means of this construction, it will be seen that the cowl and bladeholding hubs of the single propeller will rotate in unison with theshaft I3- which receives power jointly from the four motors of theairplane.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figures 5, 6, and '7,provision is made of rollers 8|, 82, 83, and 00 mounted to rotate withinthe ends of four pins II, 10, I0, and 00, eccentrically located on theinner ends of the propeller blades 10, II, 12, and II, respectively. Therollers ll, 82, 00, and 04 (as clearly shown in Figure 5), are adaptedto be engaged by a sliding plate member 05 which rotates with the shaftI3 and is engaged by a pair of longitudinal rods 01, 00, each rod beingconnected to a piston 00 mounted in one of two cylinders 00eonnnunicating with a common Jacket 00, which is in alinement withformsare shown for the purpose of illustration ODIY,"BI Ii d that theinvention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures, but may bemodified and embodied in various other forms without departing from itsspirit. In short, the invention includes all modifications andembodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In an airplane having a fuselage compartment and a propeller, asector-shaped motor housing in said fuselage compartment, saidcompartment having a U-shaped inner wall and a circular outer wall, saidcompartment also having a rear ventilation outlet, an adjustable airinlet at the forward part of said compartment, and an apertured cowlconnected for rotation with said propeller for delivering air to saidinlet.

2. A motor compartment as defined in claim 1, in which means areprovided for manually adlusting said air inlet.

3. An airplane as defined in claim 1 in which an air outlet is providedin front of said inlet at the side of the airplane body.

WALTER WISK.

